


One for Sorrow and Two for Mirth

by Fluffypanda



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: M/M, Magpies, Pre-Slash, Shapeshifting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-25
Updated: 2018-09-25
Packaged: 2019-06-22 16:12:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15585711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fluffypanda/pseuds/Fluffypanda
Summary: A magpie is following Tony on his jog.





	One for Sorrow and Two for Mirth

**Author's Note:**

  * For [enkiduu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/enkiduu/gifts).



> I was going to write you some stony, but somehow this happened instead? I hope you like it. Sorry it's so short!

Tony clocks the magpie following him about ten minutes into his jog through central park. Most birds are rather disinterested in the park-goers, unless there is a chance of crumbs getting involved, but this one has a clear purpose. It soars over him, a flash of black and white winding through tree branches.

When it briefly alights on a branch a short distance ahead of Tony, he catches a glimpse of something shiny on its leg. He sighs a little, thinking to himself, “ _It’d be nice to make it to lunch before something weird happens_.”

He doesn’t stop jogging until he reaches a hot dog cart. The bird watches while he buys a frank and finds a bench to eat it. The flutter of wings moments later doesn’t surprise Tony in the least. Neither does the sight of the magpie perched on the back of his bench, angling its head this way and that to get a good look at Tony and his lunch.

“Is this supposed to be subtle? Because I can’t say I’m impressed,” Tony says as he holds his hot dog out of reach.

The sun highlights the greenish iridescence of the bird’s feathers along the wings as it hops sideways on its perch with thin, clawed feet. Tony is staring the bird down when a second magpie darts out to snatch a bite.

Tony blinks and the first disappears as if it were never there at all. The remaining bird’s feathers ruffle in such a way that Tony almost gets the sense it is laughing at him. The white bread sticks comically out of its pointed beak before it horks it down.

“I really ought to tell Thor you’re here. I’ve got his number, you know, well, his girlfriend’s number,” Tony says on a hunch. Tony tries to frown menacingly at the bird, but it just tilts its head with a decided air of disinterest. “Maybe he’ll take you back to Asgard where you belong.”

Hot breath caresses the back of Tony’s neck as a low voice speaks. “Then who will help you unravel the spell that is seeping into this city as we speak?”

Tony swallows against the shiver working down his spine and actively fights the urge to turn around. Loki throws him more off-kilter than he’s willing to admit, but he’s going to be damned if Loki knows that.

Tony is still looking at the magpie in front of him when he says, “I’m sure there is a wizard around here somewhere.”

Maybe they’ll trap Loki in a lamp and Tony won’t have to deal with all the Asgardian nonsense and alien invasions that come with him. It was hard enough defending Earth as it was.

“Earth’s magic users are of no use against magic of this scale.” Something, a pair of lips, brushes against Tony’s ear, startlingly cold compared to Loki’s breath, as he begins to whisper, “Can you feel it? Already this spell has its hooks in you, the tragic hero of its story. We are merely in the prologue. Do you care to discover how this tragedy ends?”

Tony looks at his hot dog, now cold and unappetizing. For weeks Tony has felt as if he is on the cusp of something, though he doesn’t know what. It isn’t quite the feeling of impending doom he is familiar with, though he couldn’t say how it is different. “You still haven’t told me what your stake in this is.”

There is a slight pause and Tony almost thinks Loki is gone, but then in a clipped tone he says, “It’s attempting to suborn me as well. If it’s not stopped, we will all be merely actors in a play of another’s devising and I do not believe I will fancy the role I’ve been cast.”

“Okay, I’ll bite. What do you want me to do?”

Tony hears a soft clunk of metal against wood as a ring drops into the seat next to him. He shoots a look at the bird that dropped it there before, picking it up carefully between his forefinger and thumb. He slips the ring into his pocket. The magpie stares right back at him with beady eyes before taking off in a flutter of wings.

“Asshole,” he says to the disappearing bird. 

**Author's Note:**

> This work has a [tumblr post](http://ayapandagirl.tumblr.com/post/178467356198/one-for-sorrow-and-two-for-mirth) you can reblog!


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